John Morris Russell’s embrace of America’s unique voice and musical stories has transformed how orchestral performances connect and engage with audiences. As conductor of the world-renowned Cincinnati Pops Orchestra since 2011, the wide-range and diversity of his work as a musical leader, collaborator and educator continues to reinvigorate the musical scene throughout Cincinnati and across the continent. As Music Director of the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra in South Carolina, Mr. Russell conducts the classical series as well as the prestigious Hilton
Head International Piano Competition.
A GRAMMY®-nominated artist, JMR has worked with leading performers from across a variety of musical genres, including Aretha Franklin, Emanuel Ax, Amy Grant and Vince Gill, Garrick Ohlsson, Rhiannon Giddens, Hilary Hahn, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Cynthia Erivo, Sutton Foster, George Takei, Steve Martin, Brian Wilson, Leslie Odom, Jr., Lea Salonga, Mandy Gonzalez, Rick Steves, Bob Weir and Martin Sheen.
A popular guest conductor, Mr. Russell has worked with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, the Boston Pops and the National Symphony of Washington, D.C. He frequently conducts Canadian orchestras including Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver, and has led the orchestras of St. Louis, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Houston, Indianapolis, Dallas and Minnesota; Utah Symphony, Oregon Symphony, Colorado Symphony, and New Jersey Symphony. His work in opera and musical theater includes Cincinnati Opera, where he conducted its first production of Hans Krasá's Brundibár, and the world premiere of Blind Injustice, which was released on CD in 2021. He has also worked with Wolf Trap Opera, New York City Ballet and led original, semi-staged productions of The Music Man and Ragtime with the Cincinnati Pops.
Since 2014, Mr. Russell has regularly led the National Orchestral Institute and Festival in College Park, Maryland, one of the nation’s premiere training orchestras. In 2024 JMR and the NOI collaborated with Wolf Trap Opera on a production of Kurt Weill’s The Seven Deadly Sins in a program which was also performed with the Hilton Head Symphony in 2025. Dedicated to sharing the American musical experience with the newest generation, he helped develop and conducted the LinkUP! Educational concert series at Carnegie Hall between 1997-2009, a continuation of the program launched by Walter Damrosch in 1891 and later led by Leonard Bernstein; and has piloted educational programs with the symphony orchestras of Cincinnati, Windsor, and Hilton Head.
For over two decades, Mr. Russell has led the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra’s wildly successful Classical Roots program, honoring and celebrating Black musical excellence, which has garnered record-breaking, in-person and online audiences. Featured artists have included Marvin Winans, Alton White, George Shirley, Common, Donald Lawrence and Hi Tek, as well the 150 voice Classical Roots Community Chorus, Nouveau Chamber Players and hundreds of regional actors, dancers, artists, singers and musicians.
Mr. Russell has contributed nine albums to the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra discography, including the 2023 holiday album JOY! In 2015, he created the “American Originals Project” which has won both critical and popular acclaim, and three landmark recordings: American Originals (the music
of Stephen Foster), the GRAMMY® nominated American Originals 1918 (a tribute to the dawn of the jazz age), and Harlem Renaissance with renowned jazz pianist Marcus Roberts, released in March of 2026. Other American Originals concerts have included King Records and the
Cincinnati Sound with Late Show pianist Paul Shaffer in 2020, honoring legendary recording artists associated with the Queen City, and Bluegrass Summit with Michael Cleveland and Flamekeeper, Sister Sadie and The Steel Wheels in spring of 2027. This September The Pops releases JMR’s newest recording, American Reflections, featuring introspective works for orchestra and narrator Martin Sheen. Mr. Russell served as co-producer and conductor of American Public Television’s Rick Steves Europe: A Symphonic Journey in 2025 that was carried on more than 336 PBS stations from coast to coast and nominated for an Emmy Award in 2026. His American Soundscapes video series with The Pops and Cincinnati’s CET Public Television has surpassed one million views on YouTube since its launch in 2016.
John Morris Russell served as Music Director of the Windsor Symphony Orchestra between 2001-2012 where he conducted over forty world premieres and recorded the Juno Award-nominated album of Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf. During his time with the WSO, he was a two-time recipient of Ontario’s Lieutenant Governor’s Award for the Arts. In 2011 the University of Windsor awarded him an Honorary Doctorate and the following year he was named the WSO’s first Conductor Laureate. In 2025 he was awarded the prestigious MacDowell Society Medal and Scouting America’s highest honor, the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award. JMR recently concluded his nine-year tenure as Principal Pops Conductor of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, following in the footsteps of Doc Severinsen and Marvin Hamlisch.
John Morris Russell earned degrees from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, and Williams College in Massachusetts, and has studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, the Cleveland Institute of Music, the Aspen Music Festival in Colorado, and the Pierre Monteux School for Conductors in Hancock, Maine.
John Morris Russell is known for his engaging podium style, deep respect for the classical and popular canon and unmatched musicianship, but his secret weapon is an ingenious programming instinct and the ability to connect with audiences.
“Orchestral ‘Pops’ is derived from the Latin word ‘populus’— people; it is music for EVERYONE. He creates programs that unfold on multiple levels to bring relevancy to the concert experience: individual works, familiar or not, that stand on their own; a larger story created over the course of a concert defined by connections between each piece; and an emotional through-line that brings people together.”
From holiday classics and thrilling spy themes to epic tributes to Star Wars and Star Trek; timeless melodies of Oscar-winning film scores, to the genius of Gershwin and symphonic masterworks with a heavy metal twist, JMR’s programs explore the rich mosaic of American music and have been proven hits with audiences everywhere.
A celebration of the 20th century’s most important artistic movement with legendary jazz pianist, Marcus Roberts and trio. The program includes Yamakraw by James P. Johnson, reimagined by Roberts and infused with improvised solos throughout, as well as Ellington’s sweeping tone poem Harlem. The program includes singers (Tatiana Mayfield and Mykal Kilgore) and dancers, as well as readings of classic poetry by Langston Hughes and others. Recorded by the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra.
Roots, Americana, and early jazz programs based on Cincinnati Pops Orchestra recordings; original arrangements from American Originals and the GRAMMY®-nominated American Originals 1918.
Inspired by the evocative music of the '20s and '30s — Parisian chanson, Berlin cabaret, Buenos Aires tango, and Harlem jazz — the concert celebrates the legacy of Edith Piaf, Josephine Baker, Kurt Weill, Duke Ellington, Cole Porter, Ella Fitzgerald, Carlos Gardel, Astor Piazzolla, Kander and Ebb, and more. Features male and female vocalists, with the possible addition of dancers.
A trio of diverse singers performing the early country-western songbook including works made famous by Dolly Parton, Tammy Wynette, Loretta Lynn, and Patsy Cline.
The Symphony No. 9 “from the New World” with a first-half devoted to Dvořák’s influences (Sousa, Burleigh, Joplin, Foster), his “lost” generation of students (including Will Marion Cook), and those they taught (Gershwin, Ellington, Copland, Seeger).
Symphonic masterworks that ROCK. A collection of orchestral favorites including works by Respighi, Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Verdi, Holst, Mussorgsky, Janacek, and Tchaikovsky with extra brass for surround sound.
A variety of programs featuring brilliant vocalists, pianists, and orchestral soloists; original vocal arrangements of Nelson Riddle. Also, with Marcus Roberts Trio—Rhapsody in Blue and Piano Concerto in F.
Local/regional cultural dance ensembles perform with orchestra and popular orchestral showpieces including works by Saint-Saens, Borodin, Bizet, and DeFalla.
Music from James Bond franchise in arrangements by Nic Raine, the original orchestrator for the films, and classics of the Spy-Fi genre including selections by Henry Mancini, Quincy Jones and Lalo Schifrin. Male and Female vocalists.
Programs include “Star Wars: A Symphonic Saga” with selections from all nine films arranged in cinematic-chronological order as a single tone poem, an orchestral tour de force.
Iconic film scores from the Golden Age of Cinematic Music. Works by Korngold, Rosza, Steiner, Herrmann, Morricone, Jarre, Barry, and Elmer Bernstein.
A tribute to the greatest Sci-Fi film franchises. Works by Alexander Courage, Michael Giacchino, Jerry Goldsmith, James Horner, Dennis McCarthy and John Williams, as well as backstories and trivia. Can include a celebrity narrator/host.
A celebration of two masters of American musical theatre, with a trio of brilliant singers. Iconic selections from Follies, A Little Night Music, Company, Candide, On the Town, and West Side Story.
A second-half devoted to the most popular selections from Gershwin’s opera with two soloists and chorus, with a first-half featuring contemporaneous African American composers including James Reese Europe, Will Marion Cook, Scott Joplin, Eubie Blake, Nobel Sissle, and Duke Ellington.
Unique productions with exemplary soloists, featuring original orchestral arrangements from Cincinnati Pops Orchestra productions and recordings: Home for the Holidays, Joy!, American Reflections, American Originals, American Originals 1918, and Harlem Renaissance.
A collection of works from classical, popular, and film repertory, performed to evocative video elements; includes selections from the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra recordings Voyage and Superheroes!.
Designed for opera companies, an all-Black cast performs Mendelssohn’s immortal oratorio with full chorus in a semi-staged production. Includes costuming, choreography, lighting, and video effects.
Outrageous, symphonic-centric arrangements of classic, progressive rock from the early 1970’s with an exceptional rhythm section and instrumental soloists. Selections by Yes, Emerson Lake and Palmer, Santana, Guess Who, Moody Blues, Jethro Tull, Led Zeppelin, Rick Wakeman, and Rush.
A collection of the groovy sounds of the late 1960s including music by Burt Bacharach, Tijuana Brass, Sergio Mendez, and Fifth Dimension.
